At a Lowy Institute event at the National Press Club, Sam Roggeveen was joined by three leading Southeast Asia experts to explore Asia's maritime hotspots.

They discussed the economic shockwaves from the Strait of Hormuz conflict, the very different dynamics of the Strait of Malacca, the Taiwan contingency and what it means for regional states, and the persistent question of whether AUKUS is stabilising or complicating the region's security environment.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That's one of the striking findings from the 22nd Lowy Institute Poll, launched in Sydney. At the launch, Poll author Charlie Lyons-Jones joined Lowy Institute India Chair Shruti Pandalai and The Interpreter's Managing Editor Dan Flitton, moderated by Research Director Mihai Sora, to unpack a poll that shows record numbers of Australians feeling unsafe in the world, trust in the US at an all-time low, and the gap between how much Australians trust America and China narrowing to just three points.

The panel covers Australians' growing sense of insecurity in the world, with 53 per cent now saying they feel unsafe, a record high for the poll. Trust in the US has fallen to a record low of 31 per cent, while trust in China has climbed to 28 per cent, narrowing the gap between the two powers to just three points. Support for AUKUS remains firm despite wavering confidence in Washington, and a majority of Australians still back the US alliance even as confidence in President Trump collapses. The panel also discusses Australian attitudes to India ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit, and what that visit needs to achieve. They explore waning public support for Ukraine as the war drags on, rising concern that the risks of AI outweigh its benefits, and what the poll's findings on climate concern reveal about the mood driving Australian politics.

Read the full 2026 Lowy Institute Poll at lowyinstitute.org.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring Lowy Institute Research Director Dr Hunter Marston, Dr Lina Alexandra from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia, and Dr Ja-Ian Chong from the National University of Singapore, and moderated by Senior Fellow Richard McGregor.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The conversation features Dr Bec Strating, Don McLain Gill, and Murni Abdul Hamid and is moderated by Dr Hunter Marston, Director of the Southeast Asia Program. 

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The discussion was moderated by Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, and will feature Dr Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) — one of Asia's most influential think tanks — Dr Shruti Pandalai, inaugural Lowy Institute India Chair, and Ryan Neelam, CEO of the Centre for Australia–India Relations.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas Wright, a former Senior Director for Strategic Planning in President Biden's National Security Council, argues that China, Russia, and the United States have each adopted foreign policies that broke the foundational restraints holding the system together. By historical measures, what's emerged has the hallmarks of a pre-war environment. 

Drawing on his time inside the White House, Dr Wright diagnoses how we got here and what may come next. From Xi Jinping's strategy of asymmetric economic dominance, to Putin's war of conquest in Europe, to Trump's redefinition of American alliances as transactional arrangements.

This event was hosted by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program, in Melbourne on Wednesday 6 May 2026.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special panel discussion, the Lowy Institute's Oliver Nobetau is joined by three ABC Pacific Local Journalism Network reporters who have reported from the front lines of the crisis: Lice Movono in Fiji, Marian Kupu in Tonga, and Chrisnrita Aumanu-Leong in Solomon Islands. All three played a pivotal role in Foreign Correspondent's two-part investigation Cartel Paradise.

Drawing on their deep local knowledge and hard-won access, the reporters take us behind the scenes of a complex, multi-country collaboration. From gaining access to naval and intelligence operations in Fiji, to tracking narco subs in Solomon Islands, to examining how deportation policies are fuelling gang culture and drug networks in Tonga.

This event was recorded on Wednesday 22 April 2026.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They discuss President Trump's worldview and its roots in the 1980s, the historical precedents behind US policy on Greenland, the war with Iran, nuclear proliferation, and the health of American democratic institutions.

Biegun brings four decades of experience in government and the private sector to bear on some of the most pressing questions in international affairs today.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drawing on his experience as a son of Detroit and his deep knowledge of US trade and security policy, Stephen Biegun examines the forces reshaping Washington's approach to the region: from sweeping tariffs and alliance burden-sharing to the looming question of China.

Following his address, Stephen Biegun was joined in conversation by Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM.

Stephen Biegun served as US Deputy Secretary of State and Special Representative for North Korea in the first Trump administration. He previously held senior roles at Ford Motor Company and the US Senate, and served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 2026 Owen Harries Lecture, former US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun offers a frank insider's assessment of President Trump's foreign policy across both his first and second terms.

He discusses President Trump's reorientation of US policy toward China, the Abraham Accords, his efforts to maximise pressure on Iran, and the dramatic raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Stephen Biegun traces the historical precedents behind President Trump's decisions and examines the logic, and the limits, of a foreign policy built on fear, leverage, and dealmaking.He argues that a strategy designed to produce fear in adversaries and respect from everyone must be accompanied by consistent reassurance to friends. 

Following the lecture, Stephen Biegun joined Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove AM for a conversation exploring these themes further.

Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the significant contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. This event is part of the Rothschild & Co Distinguished International Fellowship.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Wesley is one of Australia's most incisive observers of world affairs. On Wednesday 18 March 2026, he joined the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen to discuss why Australia perennially overlooks Southeast Asia in its strategic and economic considerations.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Lowy Institute event, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Ely Ratner traces America's long evolution from engagement to strategic competition. He delivers a pointed assessment of where the Trump administration has departed from that trajectory, and he sets out the implications for US allies, including Australia.

In conversation with the Lowy Institute's Sam Roggeveen, Dr Ratner also looks ahead to what a more serious US approach towards China would require.

This event was recorded at the State Library Victoria in Melbourne on Monday 16 February 2026.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear from a panel of Lowy Institute experts as they examine what these diverse, dispersed events mean, both in and of themselves and for middle powers like Australia.

The panel was chaired by Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia; and feature Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Project Lead for the Asia Power Index; James M. Zimmerman, a Beijing-based lawyer, author, and former Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China; and Andreas Radtke, a former German diplomat, and head of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in Australia.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Watch this event on Youtube.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaking with the Lowy Institute's Director of Research David Dutton in Sydney, Bramston examines Whitlam's opening to China, the end of White Australia, independence for Papua New Guinea, and the complexities of East Timor and the alliance with the United States. He explores how Whitlam's realpolitik approach transformed Australian diplomacy and why his legacy continues to shape our approach to the region today.

More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple.

Follow the Lowy Institute on our website, X, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Follow David Dutton and Troy Bramston on X.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lydia Khalil convened this conversation with Susannah Patton, project lead for the Asia Power Index, Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, and Professor Bec Strating, director of the La Trobe Centre for Global Security.

The panellists discussed the 2025 Asia Power Index findings, focusing on the shrinking power gap between the US and China, with the US experiencing decline due to Trump's tariff policies and reduced diplomatic engagement, while China positions itself as a stable regional partner. They also examined the challenges facing middle powers like Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations, as well as Australia falling to sixth place amid questions about its ability to resource its growing security commitments in the region.

The Asia Power Index is the Lowy Institute's annual flagship publication tracking the changing distribution of power in Asia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Fullilove believes we are present at the destruction of an international order that served our interests well. The liberal order has become something illiberal and disorderly. On the other hand, the return of political stability to Australia's government should set us up to make bold decisions. He assesses Australia's international policies, in particular the stabilisation of relations with China, the energetic diplomacy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific and the agreements Canberra has signed with Pacific Island countries and Indonesia. In time, he hopes these agreements will come to form a latticework of mutual strategic trust.

This is the moment, Dr Fullilove suggests, for Australia to increase its investment in both diplomacy and deterrence. Our country should take on an even more demanding regional role, including by helping to coordinate the Indo-Pacific allies in their dealings with the Trump administration.

After his speech, Dr Fullilove joined the Institute’s Deputy Research Director Susannah Patton for a conversation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his address and subsequent conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove, Mr Burgess spoke about the interplay between threats to Australian security, including those which emanate from abroad, and our country’s social cohesion.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"The Myth of the Asian Century" is published by Penguin. It is available in bookstores and as an e-book: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-myth-of-the-asian-century-a-lowy-institute-paper-penguin-special-9781761357992.

The Lowy Institute Papers are the Lowy Institute’s flagship publications. They are peer-reviewed essays and research papers on key international issues affecting Australia and the world.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Susan Glasser, appointed to the Lowy Institute Board in January 2025, is a staff writer at The New Yorker and has served as the top editor of several Washington publications, including Politico. Her books include Kremlin Rising and the New York Times bestseller The Man Who Ran Washington, covering Donald Trump’s first four years in the White House — both co-written with her husband, Peter Baker.

Peter Baker is the Chief White House Correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Trump and his administration. He joined The Times in 2008 after 20 years at The Washington Post and has covered the White House across six presidencies. Baker has written seven books, most recently The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021, also co-authored with Susan Glasser.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This panel discussion features Professor Shiro Armstrong (Australian National University), Dr Ida Aju Pradnja Resosudarmo (Australian National University), Dr Liam Gammon (Australian National University) and Dr Axel Michaelowa (University of Zurich). The discussion was moderated by Lowy Institute Research Fellow Dr Hilman Palaon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Foreign Secretary delivers an address on the evolving Australia-UK strategic relationship and global challenges followed by a Q&A.

Watch the full length video here: https://youtube.com/live/SLKFANYC7YA?feature=share

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch the full event here: https://youtube.com/live/ni1O-plt3f4

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An anchor in Beijing for a business television program, Cheng Lei was arrested by officers of China’s Ministry of State Security on charges of espionage.

Detained, isolated and interrogated, she was cut off from her family and friends for more than three years, until her release in late 2023. Cheng Lei is now telling her story in her new book, A Memoir of Freedom.

On Tuesday 17 June 2025, the Lowy Institute launched Ms Cheng's book story. She was interviewed on stage by the Lowy Institute’s Richard McGregor, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Their conversation touches on news that the Trump administration will conduct a review of the AUKUS partnership, and previews the upcoming G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with leaders of major Western powers — and where President Trump is expected to take centre stage.

This event was recorded at the Institute's headquarters at 31 Bligh Street in Sydney on Thursday 12 June 2025.

You can watch the event at the Lowy Institute website.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following his address, Mr Hauser was joined by Lowy Institute China expert Richard McGregor and Nonresident Fellow Dr Jenny Gordon for a panel discussion moderated by Roland Rajah, the Institute's lead economist.

The panel discussed the future of Australia–China economic ties amid shifting global dynamics, rising tariffs, and mounting regional tensions, and considered where the relationship may be headed in the medium and long term.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a special event in the week that we mark the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, hear insights from Susan Glasser, the Washington correspondent for The New Yorker and Lowy Institute Board member.

The conversation is hosted by Dr Michael Fullilove AM, the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. Susan and Michael analyse the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 and the implications for Australia and the world.

Susan Glasser joins the conversation online from Washington and Michael Fullilove hosts an in-person audience at 31 Bligh Street. The discussion is followed by an audience Q&A.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since taking office in 2021, President Whipps has been a champion of Pacific leadership on regional security, climate, marine conservation and trade and economic issues.

He shares Palau’s perspective on the evolving strategic landscape in the Pacific, highlighting the impacts of recent geopolitical shifts and competition for regional influence, noting in particular Palau’s recognition of Taiwanese independence and its recently renewed Compact of Free Association with the United States.

He also discusses emerging development partnership realities in the wake of the re-election of US President Donald Trump, the revisiting of US foreign aid relationships, and the new landscape for pursuing Pacific sustainable development objectives, including accelerating the energy transition towards a fossil-fuel-free Pacific, addressing proposals for Pacific deep seabed mining, and advancing climate adaptation and marine conservation efforts.

With Australia bidding to co-host COP31 in 2026 with Pacific Island countries, President Whipps reflects on the critical importance of a real and robust partnership between Australia and its Pacific neighbours in confronting climate change and achieving ambitious and responsible global outcomes amid growing geopolitical headwinds.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to an insightful panel discussion with the ABC’s in-country Pacific journalists working on the frontlines of the rapidly changing political and security landscape in our near region.

Hosted by: Mihai Sora, Director, Pacific Islands Program, Lowy Institute

Special guest speakers:

• Chrisnrita Aumanu-Leong, Solomon Islands correspondent
• Belinda Kora, Papua New Guinea correspondent
• Marian Kupu, Tonga correspondent
• Lice Movono, Fiji correspondent

This special event coincides with the second anniversary of the founding of the Pacific Local Journalism Network (PLJN), a flagship program supported by ABC International Services under the ABC’s Indo-Pacific Broadcasting Strategy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the third in a series of significant speeches from the Chief of Army. The first laid the theoretical foundations for the Army profession, while the second examined the historical, cultural and institutional challenges faced by the Army. 

Following the address, the Lowy Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM, chaired a Q&A session with the Chief of Army.

Lieutenant General Simon Stuart, AO DSC, has more than 35 years of military experience, including leadership roles in operations, training, and capability development. He has commanded forces in East Timor, Afghanistan, and Egypt/Israel and most recently served as Head of Land Capability in Army Headquarters after commanding the Multinational Force and Observers.

A graduate of the Royal Military College – Duntroon, UK Joint Services Command and Staff College, US Army War College, and Harvard Business School, he holds advanced degrees in Project Management, Defence Studies, and Strategy. He has been appointed Officer of the Order of Australia and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rose Gottemoeller is the Lowy Institute’s 2025 Distinguished Fellow for International Security. She is currently the William J Perry Lecturer at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Prior to this, she served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO from 2016 to 2019 and was Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the US State Department. In 2009 and 2010, she was chief US negotiator of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russian Federation, due to expire in 2026.‍

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China is rapidly growing and modernising its nuclear arsenal while Russia has used nuclear sabre-rattling in its war in Ukraine. Rose Gottemoeller explores the advent of an unprecedented situation — three nuclear peers — and the implications for the United States and its allies. She will also discuss the possibilities for nuclear restraint and arms control.
‍
Since 2013, the Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the enormous contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December, the Lowy Institute hosted a panel discussion about the impact of Donald Trump presidency in Asia — from US security and trade ties with Indo-Pacific, and the outlook for US-China tensions and key regional flashpoints, including Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Lydia Khalil convened this conversation with colleagues Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Interpreter and Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, and Professor Bec Strating, Director of La Trobe Asia.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The panel was chaired by Dr Jessica Collins and featured Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research, with Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia; Susannah Patton, Director of the Southeast Asia Program and Project Lead for the Asia Power Index; and Robert Walker, Research Associate at the Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre.

It was recorded on the 27 February at the Lowy Institute's Sydney headquarters.

Watch the video of this event.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pacific leaders have responded to this gap with the creation of the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF). The PRF is the first Pacific-led, owned and managed fund dedicated to financing community-centred adaptation and resilience solutions in Pacific Island countries. The Australian government pledged $100 million to the Facility in 2023. However, far more is still needed and from a wider set of donors.

The Lowy Institute was delighted to host Finau Soqo, General Manager of the Pacific Resilience Facility, for a panel discussion on climate finance in the Pacific and Australia’s role. Ms Soqo was joined by His Excellency Samson Vilvil Fare, High Commissioner of the Republic of Vanuatu, one of the world’s worst affected countries by climate change, and Kristin Tilley, Australia’s Ambassador for Climate Change. The panel will be chaired by Dr Melanie Pill, Climate Change Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre. The discussion was followed by an audience Q&A.

‍

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‍

The Trump administration kicks off 2025 with a mandate for political and economic change. An Australian federal election looms. Russia’s war in Ukraine, an uneasy Middle East, and America’s contest with China will continue to dominate international headlines.

‍

Our expert panel included Jennifer Hewett, National Affairs columnist for the Australian Financial Review; Daniel Flitton, Managing Editor of the Lowy Institute’s international affairs magazine, The Interpreter; and Lydia Khalil, Director of the Institute’s Transnational Challenges Program. The event will be chaired by Sam Roggeveen, Director of our International Security Program.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‍The Lowy Lecture was held on Tuesday 26 November 2024 at the Sydney Town Hall.

President Petr Pavel is one of Europe’s most influential, interesting and articulate leaders. He has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia, leading calls for a strong and united response by Western nations to Russia’s aggression. He believes that - facing the current challenges - democracies across the world must work closely together.

He was inaugurated as the fourth President of the Czech Republic in March 2023. Prior to entering politics, Mr Pavel spent 35 years in the Czech military, culminating in his service as the Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces. Mr Pavel also chaired the Military Committee, NATO’s senior military authority, from 2015 to 2018.

The Lowy Lecture is the Institute’s flagship event and one of the world’s leading lecture series.

Past Lowy Lecturers have included leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, then UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, as well as four sitting Australian prime ministers, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2023.
‍
The Lowy Institute is grateful for the support of our event partners Mercer and AWS.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new book offers a unique first-hand account of the radical reforms implemented in Myanmar under the ill-fated civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. These reforms, designed both to turn around Myanmar’s dire economy and lay the economic foundations for democracy, were brought to a dramatic end following the military coup in February 2021. Sean Turnell was one of Suu Kyi’s key economic advisers who was imprisoned alongside her in the wake of the coup.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‍Dr Michael Dimock, the President of Pew Research Center, joins the Lowy Institute's Ryan Neelam and Lydia Khalil to discuss the upcoming presidential election, the state of democracy, and the role of public opinion in US and global politics.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the words of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Canberra and its partners are locked in a "state of permanent contest" with Beijing over influence in the region.

Previously undervalued by larger powers, Pacific Islanders must now grapple with the realities of a region subjected to intense geopolitical competition.

Our panel analysed the rapidly evolving regional security environment and the implications for Australia and the wider Pacific Islands region.

The panel was moderated by Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute, with expert speakers including:
•    Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia, Lowy Institute 
•    Oliver Nobetau, FDC Pacific Research Fellow, Lowy Institute
•    Dr Anna Powles, Associate Professor at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University, New Zealand
•    Mihai Sora, Director of the Pacific Islands Program, Lowy Institute

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute was delighted to host the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, for a special foreign policy address on Thursday 15 August.

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon is the 42nd Prime Minister of New Zealand. Since coming to power in October 2023, Prime Minister Luxon has focused closely on issues of foreign, defence and trade policy, including re-engaging and reinvigorating New Zealand’s relationships with traditional and like-minded partners. He is also the Minister for National Security and Intelligence and the Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services. He entered Parliament at the 2020 election as the MP for Botany and was elected Leader of the National Party in November 2021.

Prior to entering Parliament, Prime Minister Luxon enjoyed a long career in the private sector: as Chief Executive Officer of Air New Zealand from 2013 to 2019, and at Unilever where he worked in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the USA and Canada.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hon Tim Watts MP opened our event, after which an expert panel unpacked the results of the 2024 Lowy Institute Poll and discussed how Australians see their place in the world.

The Hon Tim Watts MP, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, was elected to the House of Representatives as the Federal Member for Gellibrand in 2013 and has served as Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2022.

Ryan Neelam is the Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute and the author of the 2024 Lowy Institute Poll. He previously served as an Australian diplomat in Hong Kong and at the United Nations, New York.

Michelle Lyons is a Research Fellow in the Lowy Institute’s Indo-Pacific Development Centre where she works on international climate change policy and climate finance. She has more than a decade of experience in the public service and at ANU working on international and domestic climate change policy and is a recipient of the prestigious Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship.

Sam Roggeveen (moderator) is Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program. He was the founding editor of The Interpreter, is editor of the Lowy Institute Papers, and is the author of The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace. Before joining the Lowy Institute, Sam was a senior analyst in Australia's peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We were joined in discussion with Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis on their new book Girt by Sea: Reimagining Australia's Security, which looks at six maritime domains central to the country's national interests and offers an alternative vision for how Australia should understand its strategic challenges.

The authors discussed their reasons for reimagining how Australia should understand its strategic challenges, focusing on finding security in the north seas (the Timor, Arafura and Coral Seas and the Torres Strait), the Western Pacific, the South China Sea, the South Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean.

Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis spoke in conversation with Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute.

Professor Rebecca Strating is the Director of La Trobe Asia and a Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Her research focuses primarily on Asian regional security, maritime disputes, and Australian foreign and defence policy.

Professor Joanne Wallis is Professor of International Security in the Department of Politics and International Relations, and Director of the Security in the Pacific Islands research program, at the University of Adelaide. She is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Monday 20 May 2024, we launched the Lowy Institute Analysis paper, Outrage is not a policy: Coming to terms with Myanmar’s fragmented state, by Dr Morten Pedersen. The paper calls for international assistance for “parallel state-building”, focused on strengthening the capabilities of a wide range of emerging political authorities and community-based organisations to carry out traditional state functions. 

This launch event was moderated by Hervé Lemahieu, Director of Research at the Lowy Institute.

Dr Morten B. Pedersen is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of New South Wales Canberra (Australian Defence Force Academy) and former senior analyst for the International Crisis Group in Myanmar.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP is the Treasurer of Australia. He has been the Member for Rankin in the House of Representatives since 2013. He served as Shadow Treasurer from 2019 to 2022, and Shadow Minister for Finance from 2016 to 2019. Prior to Dr Chalmers’ election to parliament, he was the Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer. He has a PhD in political science and international relations from the Australian National University and a first-class honours degree in public policy from Griffith University and is a qualified company director.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Admiral John Aquilino is the 26th Commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, responsible for all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific, covering 36 nations, 14 time zones, and more than 50 per cent of the world's population. Aquilino graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1984 and earned his wings in August 1986. He served in numerous fighter squadrons, graduated from Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and completed Harvard Kennedy School's executive education program in national and international security. Prior to his assignment to US Indo-Pacific Command, Aquilino served as the 36th Commander of US Pacific Fleet. 

RECORDED:
Tuesday 9 April 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Lecture is the Institute’s flagship event and one of the world’s leading lecture series, at which a prominent individual reflects on Australia and the world. Past Lecturers include German Chancellor Angela Merkel; UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson; US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan; Lowy Institute Chairman Sir Frank Lowy; and several Australian prime ministers including Prime Minister John Howard, who delivered the inaugural Lowy Lecture in 2005.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Lowy Institute.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After his remarks, the Prime Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.

James Marape has served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019 and as a Member of Parliament representing the electorate of Tari-Pori Open in Hela Province since 2007.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eliot A. Cohen is Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Robert E. Osgood Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. His books include, most recently, The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall. From 2007 to 2009, he served as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s senior adviser, focusing chiefly on issues of war and peace, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and his commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and on major television networks.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Bowen entered Parliament in 2004 and has held a wide range of portfolios including serving as Treasurer, Minister for Human Services, Minister for Immigration and Minister for Financial Services.  He served as Interim Leader of the Labor Party and Acting Leader of the Opposition following the 2013 Federal election and served as Shadow Treasurer.

This November, the world's attention will be on the 28th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP28) on climate change held in Dubai. As countries convene to agree on efforts to mitigate the consequences of climate change, questions arise: what are the implications for Australia and what role does Australia play?

Minister Bowen will speak on the international dynamics affecting global climate action and how Australia’s ambition to become a Renewable Energy Superpower can help the world in the rapid transformation to reach net zero emissions. After his remarks, the Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following her address, the Minister joined the Lowy Institute’s Research Director Hervé Lemahieu for a panel conversation alongside Dr James Cockayne, Anti-Slavery Commissioner for New South Wales, and Professor Justine Nolan, Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales. The discussion was centred on Europe’s expansion of corporate due diligence efforts and the implications for Australian businesses.

Tuesday 24 October 2023

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Rabuka spoke on Fiji’s economic recovery, future development ambitions and role in the region given intensifying geopolitical engagement. After his remarks, the Prime Minister spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM. 
  
The Prime Minister was introduced by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shivshankar Menon served as India’s National Security Adviser from 2010 to 2014, and prior to that as foreign secretary and ambassador to Beijing and Islamabad, among other capitals.

India, along with Asian geopolitics, has undergone rapid and accelerating change. Will India assume the role of a traditional power in a rebalanced Asian system? How will this affect the prospects for India’s increasingly close relationship with Australia and other major actors in the region? Shivshankar Menon argued that India’s move towards working ever more closely with the West is inevitable, but the devil is in the detail. 

Since 2013, the annual Owen Harries Lecture has honoured the significant contribution made to the international debate in Australia and the United States by Owen Harries, who was a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Martin Indyk is a former diplomat who is currently the Lowy Distinguished Fellow in US–Middle East Diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Prior to this, he was the executive vice president of the Brookings Institution. He served twice as US Ambassador to Israel, from 1995 to 1997, and again from 2000 to 2001. Dr Indyk was special assistant to President Bill Clinton, senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the US National Security Council, and assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs at the US State Department. From 2013 to 2014, he served as President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace. Ambassador Indyk is a founding member of the Lowy Institute Board.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us in Canberra unpack the findings of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll. 

Now in its nineteenth year, the Lowy Institute’s flagship annual poll is the longest running and broadest survey of Australian public opinion on foreign policy and global events. It is the key resource for anyone seeking to understand how Australians see the world and their place in it.

Stephen Dziedzic, ABC foreign affairs reporter, will chair this discussion with Ryan Neelam, the author of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll, Karen Middleton of The Saturday Paper, and Jennifer Hsu of the Lowy Institute.  

Ryan Neelam is Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program at the Lowy Institute and the author of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll. Before joining the Institute, Ryan spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat including as Deputy Consul-General in Hong Kong, and at the Australian Mission to the UN. Ryan has contributed to policy development and international agreements on economic, climate change, human rights and security issues.

Karen Middleton is Chief Political Correspondent for The Saturday Paper and has been covering national and international affairs across print and broadcast media for more than 30 years. Karen covered the September 11 attacks from New York City and Washington DC, the ensuing war in Afghanistan, and has authored two books - An Unwinnable War - Australia in Afghanistan (2011), and biography of the now-prime minister, Albanese - Telling it Straight (2016). She is a former president of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery and Churchill Fellow and, in 2020, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra. She is an experienced commentator in Australian and international media. 

Dr Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute. She is the author of the 2023 study Being Chinese in Australia: Public Opinion in Chinese Communities. After completing her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, she researched and taught development studies, political science and sociology in universities in North America and the United Kingdom. Jennifer is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

Stephen Dziedzic (moderator), is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s foreign affairs (Asia-Pacific) reporter, based in the Parliament House bureau. He covers foreign policy and Australia's relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Stephen has worked for the ABC since 2007 and spent five years covering federal politics.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, predictions suggested that China’s economic power would surpass that of the United States by the end of this decade. However, recent developments, backed by Lowy analysis, have challenged this assumption. 

In this event we unpacked the findings of original Lowy Institute research and explored the concept of ‘Peak China’ with the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist Roland Rajah, Senior Fellow for East Asia Richard McGregor and Nonresident Fellow Dr Jenny Gordon. 

The event was moderated by Director of Research Hervé Lemahieu. Our panellists discussed the implications of this potential turning point and what it means for China's future prospects, as well as the repercussions it may have for the rest of the world. 

Roland Rajah is Lead Economist at the Lowy Institute and the Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre. A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific. He has previously worked for the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Roland is the co-author with Alyssa Leng of the influential Lowy Institute Analysis paper Revising down the rise of China. 

Richard McGregor is Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute. He is a former Beijing and Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times and the author of numerous books on East Asia including Xi Jinping: The Backlash (2019) and Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan and the Fate of U.S. Power in the Pacific Century (2017). His 2010 book, The Party, on the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party, was translated into seven languages and chosen by the Asia Society and Mainichi Shimbun in Japan as their book of the year.  

Jenny Gordon is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Chief Economist at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Dr Gordon is a member of the Australian International Agricultural Research Centre’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisory Panel, and the Asian Development Bank Institute’s Advisory Committee. She is also an Honorary Professor at ANU's Centre for Social Research and Methods.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Wednesday 26 April 2023, the Lowy Institute hosted an event at Old Parliament House, Canberra featuring Dr Evan A. Laksmana, Senior Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, in conversation with Richard Maude of the Asia Society Policy Institute. The event was moderated by Susannah Patton, Southeast Asia Program Director at the Lowy Institute. 

Dr Evan A. Laksmana is a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He is also a Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow.

Richard Maude is Executive Director, Policy, and Senior Fellow of the Asia Society Policy Institute. He is a former Director-General of the Office of National Assessments and head of the whole-of-government taskforce which prepared the Australian Government’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Jennifer Hsu is a Research Fellow and the Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute. After completing her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge, she researched and taught development studies, political science and sociology in universities in North America and the United Kingdom. Jennifer is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Social Policy and Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Her research expertise covers state-society relations, state-NGO relations, the internationalisation of Chinese NGOs, civil society and the Chinese diaspora and she has published widely in these areas.
 
Samuel Yang is a Chinese-Australian bilingual journalist and presenter. He is currently a co-host of China Tonight on ABC TV. He joined the ABC in 2018 and has previously worked as a business reporter and presenter in Sydney, and a bilingual reporter and producer in Melbourne. He has lived across the Asia-Pacific including in China, Singapore and New Zealand. His work has won the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Public Interest Award and he was nominated for Young Journalist of the Year in 2020.
 
Lucy Du is the CEO of the Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative (ACYPI), the single largest young professionals organisation in the Australia-China space. She began her career in Canberra and then went on to work in China for one of Australia’s big four banks and later for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Shanghai. She is currently Head of Community at Belz Family & Associates, a global private assets investment platform for Asian and Australian investors. Lucy is bilingual in English and Chinese and has completed studies at the University of Melbourne, Australian National University and Tsinghua University.
 
Ryan Neelam is Director of the Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program and is Project Lead on the annual flagship publication, the Lowy Institute Poll. Before joining the Institute, Ryan spent 14 years as an Australian diplomat including as Deputy Consul-General in Hong Kong, and at the Australian Mission to the UN. Ryan has contributed to policy development and international agreements on economic, climate change, human rights and security issues.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

General Campbell joined the Australian Army in 1981, graduating from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1984. In 2005, he joined the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet as a First Assistant Secretary to head the Office of National Security and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Secretary and appointed to the position of Deputy National Security Adviser. Upon his return to the Australian Defence Force in early 2010, he was appointed to the rank of Major General. In 2015, he was appointed Chief of the Australian Army, and in 2018 appointed to command of the Australian Defence Force.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Hon Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa is Samoa’s seventh prime minister and the first woman to be elected to the role. She was also the country’s first female cabinet minister and deputy prime minister. As the leader of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party, she became prime minister after elections in 2021. Prime Minister Fiamē was first elected to parliament in 1985 and was appointed to her first cabinet ministry in 1991, going on to serve in a range of portfolios including Education, Justice and Environment. From 2006 to 2012, she was the chair and pro-chancellor of the University of the South Pacific. 

The FDC Pacific Lecture has been established with the support of the Foundation for Development Cooperation, which has also established the FDC Pacific Fellowship in conjunction with the Lowy Institute.

The Prime Minister was introduced by the Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Hon Pat Conroy MP. After her remarks, Prime Minister Fiamē spoke in conversation with the Lowy Institute's Executive Director, Dr Michael Fullilove AM.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Wesley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and Professor of Politics at the University of Melbourne. His research and writing focus on Australian foreign policy and the international affairs of Asia and the Pacific. Previously, he was Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University. He has also held positions as Executive Director of the Lowy Institute, Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, and Assistant Director-General for Transnational Issues at the Office of National Assessments. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute. He spent 35 years in the Australian Army. His operational service includes deployments to East Timor, Iraq and southern Afghanistan. His book, War Transformed: The Future of Twenty-First-Century Great Power Competition and Conflict, was published in 2022.

Zoya Sheftalovich is a contributing editor for POLITICO, currently based in Sydney. She is also a regular commentator on the Ukraine war for ABC News 24.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To mark International Womens Day the Lowy Institute hosted this event featuring researchers Jennifer Hsu, Jessica Collins and Meg Keen for a conversation chaired by Lydia Khalil to discuss these issues and offer their perspectives as women working in the field.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975, growing the company into a global leader in business and personal software. In 2008, Gates shifted focus to the Gates Foundation’s work on increasing opportunities for the world’s most disadvantaged people. Through the Foundation, he has spent more than 20 years working on global health and development issues including pandemic prevention; disease eradication; maternal, newborn and child health; agricultural development; and water, sanitation and hygiene. In 2010, he co-founded the Giving Pledge to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organisations during their lifetime or in their will. Monday 23 January 2023

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sanna Marin was appointed Prime Minister of Finland on 10 December 2019. She has been actively engaged in politics since 2006. In 2015, she was elected to Parliament and has been a member of the Grand Committee, Legal Affairs Committee and Environment Committee. Ms Marin is the third female Prime Minister of Finland and the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gideon Rachman became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington, DC and Bangkok. He also edited the business and Asia sections of The Economist. His interests include US foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation. His most recent book is The Age of the Strongman: How the cult of leader threatens democracy around the world was published in 2022. 

This event was recorded at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne on 24 November 2022.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.